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W. H. H. TRACY & G. E. ,STILLMAN. MACHI E FOR TURNING AND PRE'SSING WOVENFABRIGS.

N0..251,972. Patented Jan. 3,1882.

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W. H. H. TRACY & G. E. STILLMAN;

MACHINE FORTURNING ANDPRBSSING WOVEN FABRICS.

No. 251,972. Patented Jan. 3,1882.

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WILLIAM H. H. TRACY AND GEORGE E. STILLMAN, F TROY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS 0E ONE-THIRD r0 JOSIAH L. YOUNG, or SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR TURNING AND PRESSI NQ'WOVEN FABRICS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 251,972, dated JanuaryB, 1882 I I Application filed October 18, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that WQ,WILLIAM H.H.TRACY and GEORGE E. STILLMAN, both of Troy, in the county of Bensselaer and State of New York, have invented a Machine for Turning and PressingWoven Fabrics; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to.

the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

Our invention relates to machinery for turning and pressing woven fabrics, and more especially to such as are used in the manufacturcof collarsand cuffs.

1 In the manufacture of collars and cuffs it has been customary, prior to our invention, to form the turned-in and stitched edges of such articles according to one or the other of two well-known p'lans-viz., either that plan in which the several plies of the material were run (or sewed) together and then turned, and the article finished so as to present an edge having the run scam in it, or that other plan, in which what is known as a guttered 2 edge is formed-i. e., an edge having the nearest line of stitches so far from it that the turned edges of the united plies may be sepa rated, showing a sortof groove or gutter when pulled away from each other. In the manu- 0 factnre of such articles as referred to by either of the plans mentioned the turning and sew-' ing have been done sometimes by hand and at other times by the aid of machinery; and of the two kindsof turned and stitched edges referred to, that known as the guttered edge 'is decidedly the more preferable now with the trade and markel;,because of its acknowledged superiority over the other kind. i

Our invention has for its object to provide 4o mechanical means for the rapid production of that kind of work in which isinvolved the gutterededge; and it consists in an organized mechanism adapted to turn over the edge. of a blank composed of one or more thicknesses of 5 woven fabric, and at the same time flatten down thefolded-over edge in a manner to insure the retention of the fold untilthe folded blank shall have beenstitched down.

Our invention further consists in a novel combination of devices forfiattening down the folded stuff in a perfect manner, to be herein.- after more fully described and specifically I claimed.

Our invention further consists in the combination, as hereinafter to be more fully explained, of means for breaking down and flattening the foldcdstuff and means for smoothing it out, so that the folded blank shall be in good condition for the stitching together of i the folded blanks.

Our invention further consists in certain novel details of construction in the device or mechanism for turning the fabric, all of which will be hereinafter more fully explained and specifically claimed. 6 To enable those skilled in the art to make and use our invention, we will now proceed to more fully describe it, referring by letters to the accompanying drawings, in which we have illustrated a machine embodying the several features of our invention in the form in which we have so far successfully practiced the same.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top view of the machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Fig.

3 is a detail vertical section at the line w as of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detail cross-section at y 3 Fig. 1, showing merely the construction of the hemr'rier or turning mechanism. Fig. 5 is a detail top view of the hemmer mechanism separated from the rest of the machine, andwith 8c the hemmer device proper turned or swung out of its working or operative position. Fig. 6 is a side or edge view of the parts seen at Fig. 5, viewed from the direction indicated by the arrow at Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is a detail vertical section, showing a modification of the system of rollers for flattening down and smoothing. out the turned-over edge of the fabric.

In the several figures the same parts will be found designated by the same letter of ref'er- 9o ence.

A represents the main frame or table-like supporting-platform of the machine, on top of which is secured the work-table B, on which the blanks are placed or rested as fed by hand 5 into the hemmer or turning mechanism, which latter is supported, as shown, by said worktable. This turning mechanism is composed essentially of a plate, 0, one edge of which extends upward and over, as seen at D, and an 5 formed, partially or wholly, of glass, as seen at 0, for a purpose to be presently explained, and the said former is composed (see Figs. 3 and 6) of a solid rearmost portion and two yielding plates, 1 and 2, extending thence for- IO ward, by which construction the upper and lower-portion or leaves, so to speak, 1 and 2, are rendered capable of slight movements toward each other to increase the spaces between the top and the bottom of said former Y and the adjacent surfaces, respectively, of the housing, for the accommodation of and proper action on blanks of different thicknesses. The said former, being pivoted at a and held within its housing in plate 0 D merely by the spring I), can easily yield bodily and laterally to adapt its working-edge to a proper action on blanks of different thicknesses.

On the main frameAis mounted a plate, G. provided with upwardly-projecting stands H H, in which are formed bearings for the three shafts I, J, and K, of which the latter, K, is the main driving-shaft. The main shaft K is shown provided with a pulley, L, to which the motive power is applied, and it has a spurv3o gear which, engages with and drives each of V the pinion's M N of the other shafts.

On the inner end of the main shaft K is fastened a short roll, d, the periphery of which is clothed with a covering, 0, of vulcanized rub- 5 her, for the purpose of making said periphery slightly elastic or impressionable,while on the inner ends of shafts I and J are secured respectively a metallic faced fluted roll, f, and a metal smooth-faced roll, g,both of which rolls 40 have their faces working in forcible contact with the rubber-covered periphery or face of roll 01. (See Figs. 2 and 3.)

The inner end of shaft I is free to move up and down slightly in its bearing-box in stand H, andis provided, as shown, with a small grooved face-pulley, h, over which passes a round belt, i, thatalso passes beneath the pulleyj. (See Fig. 2.) This pulley j is hung in the upper end of a stirrup, k, the lower end of 0 which is pivoted to a lever, O, the fulcrum l of which is in the lower portion of a stand, P, that projects downward from the lower side of the platform A, and said lever O is provided with an adjustable weight, Q, all as clearly 5 shown. From this it will be seen that by setting theweight Q at any given point in lever O the endless belt 2' will pull down on the pulley h with more or less force, and the fluted rollf may be thus caused to act with more or less pressure on the material passed between its face and that of the rubber-covered roll 01. The operation of the machine may bethus explained Power being applied by a drivingbelt to the pulley L, the moving parts are put 6 in motion ata proper speed and the operative I starts in the blank to be turned, forcing the edge through the interior of the turned-over -capable of retaining its fold until it shall have the right extent, and theproper extent is known by causing the edge of the blank to come up to the shoulder indicated by the lowermost one of the two dottedlines seen at Fig. 1, said shoulderandline being the gage-line. The operative can easily know when the edge of the blank is traveling exactly in contact with or up to the gage-line, (not falling short of it or crowding beyond it,) because the part cof the housing within which theblankis being turned over the former E is perfectly transparent, being made of glass, and hence the edge of the blank is always in sight at thelocality at which it must be seen in order to know by visual observation that the turning is being done just right. As the turned-over and double portion of the blank passes into the bite of and along between the fluted roll f and the soft-faced roll (1 the folded fabric is broken down at the edge of the fold by a sort of crimping operation, which has the effect to render the folded blank been stitched to its mate or counterpartin the completion of the cuff, collar, or other article.

The object and effect of having the rollerf fluted, as shown, are to draw the folded-over flap portion of the fabric away from the edge of the fold, and thus insure the crimping ofthe blank properly and a perfect parallelism between the' hinge-line of the fold and the edge of the folded-over flap of the blank, and the flutes or corrugations of rollf must, of course, run in the direction shown in the drawingsin order to exert properly this drawing tendency.

The degree of obliquityof the flutes of rollf is not very important. o have found that shown in the drawings to answer well the designed purpose in a working machine. Nor is it indispensably necessary to use this obliquely-fluted roller f and soft-faced roll d in the manner shown, as a roll having flutes or ridges made parallel with its axis, but having its shaft set obliquely to that of roll (I, would answer the purpose; and perhaps the described (and necessary) drawing action in the folded-over flap might be effected by the'use'of a rubberfaced roll without flutes, in place of the rollf,

and arranged obliquely to the co-operative face of the roll d. As the folded-over and brokendown or crimped blank passes from between the rolls f and cl it travels along into the bite of and between the peripheries ofrolls g and d, the operation of which is to smooth out the crimps or crinkles made in the necessary operation of crushing or breaking down the edge of the fold, (or the hinge-line ofthe folded-over flap,) in order that the blank may be in a more desirable condition for union with the other part of the article by stitching, as usual.

Of course other arrangements of rolls than that shown and so far described may be used.

For instance, in the mere modification seen at t Fig. 7 two sets of rolls, d and c to break down thefold and g h to smooth it out, are used; and

other arrangements maybe used, if deemed expedient.

In lieu of the adjustable weight and its attachments for gagingthe yieldingpressure with which the upper roll, f, acts, a spring-tension device .may be employed, or other means for effecting the desired end, and in lieu of having the under roll, 61, rotated by the main shaft, it or a series of lower rolls (where more than one be used, as seen 'at Fig. 7) may be mounted on stationary axes or studs and be rotated by the turning action of the upper roll, (or rolls,) as the judgment of the builder may suggest would be best.

It will be understood that it is important that the former E possess the described capacity for contraction in the direction of its thickness and movement bodily on its pivotal point of attachment to plate D, as described, because not only is the turning mechanism thus rendered capable of actingproperly and similarly on blanks of different thickness, but

it is made capable of yielding to permit the easy passage and proper turning over of the corner portionsof collar and cuff blanks, where the stuff is much thicker than at other points in the same blank; but in lieu of the precise construction shown for the" accomplishment of these ends, other and equivalent constructions may of course be adopted-such, for instance, as one in whichthat part of the plate 0 D incasing the workin g surfaces of the former E should be made to expand while the former remained rigid and immovable.

It will be seen that the first part of our invention may be practiced without restriction to either the particular form of turning mechanism or the precise kind of breaking-down I and crimping or flattening devices shown, the

gist of this part of our invention resting in an organism em bracing a turning mechanism and means for fixing or setting the turned-over flap in the manner and for the purpose explained;

, and it will also be seen that it is not material to the second part of our invention whether the obliquely-fluted roll and under roll, 0?, be used or some other devices capable of performing thefunctions of these rolls, as described. Nor is it indispensable in practicing our invention that the form of smoothing devices shown be employed, so long as the proper means be incorporated for smoothing out the folded-over flap and its underlying portion of fabric.

Of course one or more of the several features of our invention may be used without the others, and we do not therefore wish to be understood as restricting the scope of our invention to a machine embodying these several features.

Having so fully explained the several parts of our invention and the mode in which we have so far practiced them that any one skilled in the art can make and use the same, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a mechanism or device for turning over the edge of the fabric drawn through it, of means for drawing the turned-over fabric and at the same time flattening down the fold and breaking the edge thereof, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination with means for turning over the edge of the blank, a set of drawing and flattening rolls adapted to also exert a drawing tendency in the direction of the edge of the folded-over flap, so as to keep the said edge parallel with the hinge-line of the flap.

3. In combination with a set of rolls for flattening and crimping, means for smoothing out the folded and crimped portion of the blank, as set forth.

4. In a turning mechanism or device, aformer adapted to contractin the direction ofits thickness, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. 1 1 a t 5. In a turning mechanism ordevice, aformer adapted to-yield bodily to permit the passage between its workingedge and the adjacent surface of its incasement of different thickness .of material, as set forth.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our 7 hands this 12th day of October, 1881.

W. H. H. TRACY. GEO. E. STILLMAN.

In presencebf- 1 ROBT. H. MCCLEHAN JOHN E. KELLY. 

